Automat

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A place where individuals can purchase meals through machines that dispense food and drinks without the presence of servers
2. A location enabling customers to obtain meals and refreshments from vending machines autonomously
3. A self-service establishment where patrons can acquire food and beverages directly from machines without requiring human assistance

Etymology: The automat takes its name from the Greek word "automatos," meaning "self-acting" or "acting of its own will," which also gave English "automaton," a mechanical figure that moves by hidden works. The restaurant form grew out of that idea: its coin-operated compartments let diners take out food without any server handing it over. The German "Automat" carried the same sense, and the American chain Horn & Hardart, which opened its first Philadelphia automat in 1902 and drew on German models, made the format famous across the United States. The word therefore describes a machine that acts on its own, applied to a meal. "Automat" and "automaton" are doublets, two forms of one word that entered English by different routes, one as a borrowing from German and the other from older learned usage.